Crimson
by Aubrey Dae
Summary: At the dissapearence of Mackenzie's boyfriend, she calls the only man she knows fit to take on the job of battling through demons to get him back: Dante Sparda. But once demons taste human blood, nothing else can compare, and the whole town is at risk...
1. Prologue

**Crimson: A Devil May Cry Fanfiction**

Author's Note: It being well over a year since I last wrote a fanfiction, I really don't know what I'm doing lurking back over in this category of writing. Regardless, seeing as I'm extremely new to Devil May Cry, having just bought the game a week prior to writing this message, a lot of things may be wrong in this fanfiction.

Before we go farther with the story, I'll take this time to state just what may be wrong with the following writing, and the things I knowingly changed. To begin with, the setting of this story is that around the time of the beginning of the first game, or before. However, there is no Trish, and this does not take place anywhere near Mallet Island. There are reasons for this: One being I do not know enough about Trish or the architecture/mapping of Mallet Island to write a decent fanfiction revolving around that; two is I simply like writing things that completely mess with the timeline of the story. Do not kill me for this.

Lastly, I would like to state that I do not own Dante, nor do I own Devil May Cry. I do, however, own the heroine, Mackenzie ('Zie), and any other character not mentioned in the video game.

Now, enough of my jabbering (I promise next chapter I won't write as much in the author's note). This is a short chapter, it being the prologue in all actuality. I promise the rest will be longer in content. Onto the story!

**Crimson**

Prologue

                They said the house behind the woods was haunted, that if one were to pass it, even in broad daylight, you could hear the moan and shrieks of ghostly creatures, lurking in the shadows, waiting for their prey. However, I never held any truth to these tales. To me, the house behind the forest was just that: a house. It was with this faith that my best friend and lover, Jason Black, ventured into that dismal rotting mansion.

                That same day he disappeared. No one bothered to search the house. No one bothered to listen to my pleas, my cries that he was in that house. No one wanted to believe that Jason Black, an intern for a large cooperation, son of the wealthiest man in town, and graduate of Harvard, would be as foolish as to enter that place alone.

                To me, the rumors are no longer that of a child's story. They are as real as the sky, as the trees, as the life of a newborn child. They are now my reality. I can only pray that when I decide to venture into that house alone, I can find closure to my lover's disappearance, if not my own death. A suicide mission? Perhaps, but not without the proper precautions. I wouldn't go into that place alone. I would go with _him_.

                They say he's picky about jobs – won't do one even if it offered thousands in payments. They also say that if you give him a job involving the paranormal, demons, or other creatures of fantasy, he'll take it without another thought. That's why he's my man when it comes to looking for Jason, because right now, I can only believe that something other than that of which dwells in this world is keeping my other half from me. This man that they call Dante Sparda, he will be the one I lay the job of finding Jason with. He will help me. He must.

                "Devil May Cry," the voice that answered the phone was clearly a man. A good sign, for after asking around about where to find this Dante Sparda, I had been given the correct number after all. I had my doubts about it, since it was given to me a drunkard, but no one else seemed to know how to contact the man.

                I took a deep breathe, wondering where to begin. I supposed it would be best to start off simple, having no need to dump the man with my woes and pain. "I have a job for you, if you would take it," I began, my voice shaking, "Recently a good friend of mine has disappeared, and I've reason to believe that the reason behind his disappearance is, how you say, otherworldly. I know it may be a lot to ask of you, to come only to examine a house for paranormal activity, but no one else would believe me when—"

                He cut me short, causing me to immediately believe that he would turn down the job, although his respond was quite different, "How much would you pay?" My doubts returned to me. They say this is the man that took any paranormal job for next to nothing, and yet he was questioning the terms of money. But who was I to refuse the question, for he must be interested in the job is he cared to ask?

                "I'm not sure. I have very little to offer in the terms of money, but if you manage to find my friend while examining this house, I can guarantee the pay will be plenty. More than."

                The man, Dante, I assume, grunted, before asking me to meet him in near this house to farther discuss the terms of  my little job. I readily agreed, hanging onto my thread of a hope of getting this man to helping me find my love.

                "I'll meet you there at midnight, then," Dante remarked, before the reassuring click of a phone being hung up reached my ears. Not much a person to haggle on times, was he? But midnight it was, and I would surely meet him. After all, I had very little choice in the matter. It was either gain his help or enter that house alone, although neither was an appealing option to me, going with this Dante seemed safer, and my fear was only a small price to pay for getting Jason back.

                Jason, this was all for Jason. 


	2. Chapter One

**Crimson: A Devil May Cry Fanfiction**

Author's Note: And I'm back for another chapter of Crimson! The same disclaimers apply as before, of course. And perhaps a few reviews for this chapter? Some constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

As if things couldn't go worse for me, having not written fanfiction in a year, I wrote this whole thing in first person, before realizing things seemed rushed when I wrote like that, so I had to go back and rewrite in all in third. That's why it took me so long to update. Sorry!

And… the chapter is short! I'm sorry! But, yeah, I had to rewrite all of it, and didn't have time to expand. I have a chapter-a-week-at-least minimum for myself.

**Crimson**

Chapter One

                Although it was only September, and pleasantly warm during the day, the cold air of night crept through Mackenzie's thin jacket, and she shivered.  The rustle of leaves made her nervous, as did the dark. Midnight, it was a God-awful time to ask someone to come out, but that was how Dante did things. She quickly checked her watch. No, she was on time. Perhaps she came too early and this was why she had been waiting too long? So where was this Dante Sparda? Nowhere in Mackenzie's was sight, but that was limited. The moon was new, no sliver of it shone through the trees, and she was without a flashlight, or any way of seeing what was around her, for there where no streetlights in this section of town.

                The sound of a booted figure moving swiftly across fallen leaves first informed her of his presence. Swiftly Mackenzie turned around and faced Dante, examining the figure carefully. Cloaked in red, silver hair shining, dark eyes looking menacingly at the house behind her, this Dante frightened her. 

                "Dante Sparda?" Mackenzie asked, crossing the ground between them is a few quick steps.

                He nodded. "You're the one that called," Dante remarked, making it clear that it was not a question, rather a statement. Dante did not seem one for questions.

                "Yes. My name is Mackenzie McAuthor," the girl paused, "Just call me 'Zie." Although Dante didn't look interest in her name, rather his eyes were locked on that of the house, and motioning towards it he asked her if that was the place she had called him to examine. Mackenzie nodded a simple yes.

                The silver-haired man walked rapidly past Mackenzie, towards the front of the house. She remained silent this whole time, before trotting on after him, ducking under tree branches that reached to catch her ratty blonde hair and clothing.

                Dante turned, eyeing her suspiciously, "You aren't coming. I work alone."

                "No, I am. I want to be there if you run into my friend."

                His only response as he opened the door to the mansion was an annoyed grunt. Mackenzie peered over his shoulder, looking into the dark depths of house. Footprints were left in the dusty grime that layered the flooring, remnants of the house being left alone for so long. Dante did not hesitate to walk in, and she followed, running her hand across the dusty surface of the end table, positioned next to the doorway, watching as the particles floated up around her.

                Carefully Mackenzie looked around the room, curtains hung tattered, a sofa lay rotting across from the door, the single window so dirty no light could shine through even if it was day. It was the perfect setting of a horror story, and equally as frightening.

                "You were right about one thing, babe, there's definitely a demon presence in this house," Dante remarked, moving across the room, occasionally taking something from a table to look at it, although mostly he just examined the room as the younger of the two did, simply looking, not touching.

                "Don't call me 'babe,' " was Mackenzie's only response.

                Mackenzie watched Dante as he walked about the room, remaining silent. Both Dante and the girl should have taken the silence as a warning, for soon Mackenzie could sense eyes watching her  from the shadows, causing her to quickly look at the top of the stairs. Deep eyes of red stared down at she, no physical body was within her sight, though. Her throat paralyzed with fear of this creature, she wanted to scream, to yell out, to warm Dante of this creature, this thing, but no sound would come.

                She could see now this creature had a cat-like shade to it, as it pawed its way toward her, leaping silently down the last few steps, poised to kill, its deadly eyes staring deep into that of Mackenzie's. Was this how it felt when you knew you were going to die? was the only thought to pound away in her mind. She closed her eyes, throat still refusing to let her call for help.

                A single shot rang out.

                Her eyes snapped open, and she stood looking on as Dante sprang into action, swiftly drawing his sword and taking a clean slice out of the thing, unrecognizable to Mackenzie. The battle pursued, small droplets of blood lined their battle ground, and the silent observer was unable to tell if they belong to Dante or the demon. Part of her didn't want to know, for fear it was Dante, although soon her fears were proven faulty when the demon fell to the ground, writhing in pain before laying still, dead.

                The battle was over, but Mackenzie's fear was still fresh.  Collapsing to her knees, she shuddered in fright, before looking to Dante, her voice hushed but calm, "What the hell was that thing?"

                "A shadow," he said, acting as if the answer was the most obvious thing of all.

                "Shadows don't attack people."

                Dante frowned, turning to look at her, clearly seeing Mackenzie as nothing but a frightened child. A hopeless young girl who would only complicate things. "I told you not to come along. Get out of here. Now," his voice was cruel, commanding. It was clear she was getting in his way, but Mackenzie was stubborn, choosing to refuse to listen, to stay.

                "No," Mackenzie's own voice surprised her, the finality in it. She stood up, pushing past him and storming up the stairway, "There's obviously nothing down here." Although for all the power her words held, the moment Dante's hand touched her shoulder, in clear attempt to force her back down the stairs and out the door, she yelped with fear.

                "Leave. Now."

                "No."

                Dante forced her to look at him, his eyes piercing in to hers, clouded with annoyance, and anger. "I told you to leave. You're only getting in my way," he growled, shaking her to add effect.

                "I would be happy to leave," she hissed, through clenched teeth, tempted to slap the man, "but someone very important to me happens to be lost in this house, and I want to be there if you run into him." Mackenzie pulled away from him, walking up the rest of the stairway, glancing around the dim area, squinting to see into corners. Slowly she walked farther forward, into the first room that caught her eye.

                Black curtains billowed from the windows, also dark with grime. A large mirror, with an intricate gold frame, caused her own face, pale, dark washed-out grey eyes rimmed red from lack of sleep, with her mess of unclean hair, stare back at her. She cussed softly, and walked out of the mirror's unfriendly view. Dressing tables were lined in black velvet, and the large bed decorated with satin.

                Dante, too, walked in, also examining the room, although is eyes caught what Mackenzie's did not. Dark splotches of blood decorated the floor. The brown-red of old, dried blood cake the floor boards like a carpet, and fresher spilt blood lay, still wet above that in the farther corner, near the bed. Carefully he walked closer to the area, looking down at the corpse of a man who lay rumbled. He seemed homeless; certainly not the person Mackenzie searched for, since what was left of his face suggested he was much older than someone who would be a friend of the girl.

                A deep voice, inhuman in many ways, echoed through the room, interrupting Dante's examination of the body.

                "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"


End file.
